Hello Viewers, Welcome to another one of your Views. Keep those letters coming. I love to hear from you. Even if I don’t agree Why? Because as I have stated in many columns, this is also YOUR View and I stand by that.Before I get started I want to take this time out right here to tell you that I have a special guest for this column. He wrote for WCW magazine and he’s now writing in MO. That’s right. An actual reporter and what a true friend he’s been to this girl. Give it up for Ric. Welcome Ric.

Now my usual column will be out sometime this week at least I’m hoping. You know the one where I tell you how hot I think HHH is even though he’s married now. How John Cena and I hugged and he’s great. Blah Blah Blah you know, stuff. But Smack Down didn’t come my way this week. The Dodger game pre-empted it so, that took care of that.

But today, I’m writing about the Next Big Idiot. Gee Annie who might that be? Well, I’ll tell you if that didn’t give it away.

Brock ‘I wanna be a football player’ Lesner. But first, as I always do with a guest. They get to go first so, without further adieu here is Ric’s Reaction along with his email address just in case you to are a true fan of good writing.

Rick’s Reaction
by: Rick Phelps
WrestleRic2003@aol.com
wrestlerick@hotmail.com

Before I begin on the topic at hand, I would like to say that it feels good to be writing again. For those of you who are not aware of who I am (or those of you who forgot), I am a former WCW magazine intern/research assistant and online “sports entertainment” writer. Due to military obligations, I have not been able to write as consistently as I would like. I was recently contracted to a newspaper in the Branson, Missouri area as a reporter. I am back and would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me during my leave of absence.

Anyone in the spotlight knows that their actions and words are always dissected and released for the world to know. For a man who is making a genuine run at the NFL, Brock Lesnar may have committed career suicide by letting it be known that he does not like “gays.” Understandably, it is the prerogative of every individual walking the face of the earth to say what they want, when they want, but when you are Brock Lesnar, you must choose your words a little more carefully.

Do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am a Brock Lesnar fan, dating back to his collegiate days. We all know the story. He is one of the most gifted big men to ever enter the ring. He is the youngest WWE champion of all time. During his tenure in WWE, he was put over by The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle and the Undertaker. To make a long story short, Lesnar was one of the key players on the roster.

“The Next Big Thing” turned down a long term, multimillion dollar contract for many reasons, one of which included wanting to make a run at becoming an National Football League player. Wrestling fans have seen many players make the transition from the gridiron to the squared circle, but rarely do fans witness the vice versa. Because he came from the sports entertainment industry, Lesnar is going to have to work harder than his younger, fresh out of college counterparts. He is going to have to shake off the image of being a “wrestler.” Pro wrestling may be a billion dollar a year industry, but there is still the aura among many non-viewers that everything is fake and that wrestlers are not athletes. Knowing that he is going to have to jump those obstacles, you would think that Lesnar would watch his P’s and Q’s. He did the exact opposite, according to ESPN. The organization that is already referring to Lesnar as “The Next Big Flop” reported on Lesnar’s antigay remarks. Not the smartest of moves for a guy who is willing to take a massive pay cut to follow his dream.

Does Lesnar possess the physical tools to be successful in the NFL? Absolutely. He is agile, lightning fast for his age and obviously strong. Does he possess the mental toughness and stamina that it takes to be in the NFL? Absolutely. He was in an industry that has never heard the term “off season.”

To be honest, from what I have seen, the only department Lesnar is lacking in is common sense. He is going to have to realize that the NFL fan base is much larger than that of the WWE, and everything he does could possibly end up in every newspaper in the nation.

Remember what I said, I am a fan of Lesnar and wish him the best of luck. I believe that he could be a force to be reckoned with. In order for him to succeed, in my opinion, he needs to make sure that he is as mentally sharp as he is physically.

To wrap up, all I can say is that if he is not careful, he could possibly end up partnering with John Rocker, doing infomercials on how to win friends and influence people.

Wasn’t that great? I know I love his work. Okay, my turn so here you go here is Annie’s View.

Brock Lesner

Now I never liked Brock and if you have been really reading my columns, you’ll know that I nicknamed him The Troll as he had no neck. I did, however, appreciate the fact that other than Kurt Angle Brock Lesner was in fact, the ONLY true wrestler in the WWE. (At this time)

I mean, Brock knew just what to do and did just that. While he didn’t win any gold like Angle he did win a lot of respect. That being said…

Who does Brock think he is?

Fine he doesn’t like homosexuals. I get that. Some people don’t. But to yell at some girl because she has a male friend that thinks Brock is cute? Then turning to some reporter and saying ‘I don’t like gays write that down.’ Oh please. Get over it.

I am a woman who lives near Hollywood and I have been hit on by women. I don’t scream at them for it. Your supposed to take stuff like that as a compliment. Or at least and I mean at the very least, smile, shudder inside and then say ‘Tell them thanks’. You don’t have to be a jerk about it. Me, I take it as a compliment because that’s usually what it’s intended. But not Brock.

We’re talking about someone with an ego who thinks that now that he’s been a wrestler he can now play football. While my guest, Ric, likes Brock Lesner I’m here to say that I was never fond of him. Is he huge? Yes, he is. Can he wrestle? Yes, he can. Can he play football? Probably.

However, does he have people skills? Apparently not.

I will say this much though, these are his beliefs and I think that if you have a belief you should be able to stick to it. If he doesn’t like homosexuals okay as I stated above, many don’t. But you really don’t need to be harsh about it. I want to know what he’ll do the first time someone slaps his butt after he makes a touchdown. No girl football players where he’s trying out that I’m pretty sure of.

Here’s a quote “If it was legal and I wouldn’t get in trouble, I’d pick a fight on every street. If I wouldn’t lose any money or nothing, I would fight. I’d fight every day.”

He didn’t choose the career of a football player right away either. No. He went for the sure thing which was Vince McMahon who, at the same time that Vince was offering Brock the chance of a lifetime, so was head coach of Tampa Bay’s Buccaneers. Brock took the sure thing. Can you blame him? Absolutely not.

Now with a baby he hates the road and wants to stay at home. You have to admire a man who gave up all that money for a child and a different career path. For giving up that sure thing and going towards a goal that he truly wanted to begin with…football.

I really do wish him well and I hope someone decides he’s worth a try. Until that day however, lets hope that while the coaches teach him how to punt, they also teach him how to love someone other than Brock Lesner.

Last Week’s QOTW was about TNA and what you thought of it. Here are some of the answers I received.

BigSexxy writes I don’t really know too much about TNA and since I work during the week and Impact is on Tuesdays and the idea of paying every week to watch a PPV doesn’t appeal to me I don’t get to watch it. But last week I was on vacation and I caught my very first glimpse of TNA and I have to say that while Impact is only an hour long I was very impressed (and shocked) with the ring and the wrestlers that performed. It was great to see D’lo and an X Division match that I have heard nothing but good things about in the past about that division. If they were to take that show out of that time slot and put it later on in the day I would definitely watch it. I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can actually get to watch it.

The Sarg writes this: Hmmm…TnA…Well…from what I have seen of it…it’s o.k….nothing great or terribly special…kinda bland at times…but all wrestling gets like that eventually…I hope they do a lot better then they are currently doing…and I get sick and tired of seein’ Jeff Jarrett with the belt…He’s not the only damn wrestler they have…But besides that…it’s o.k….I hope they begin to get so big that they directly contend with the WWE…Because when you have no competition but yourself…”Raw Vs. Smackdown anyone?!”…You loose…No one wins when you compete with yourself…both the WWF and the WcW were much better products when they were directly in head to head competition with each other…Because when you have a competitor you are constantly trying to do things to one up your opponents…Thus making a more entertaining and not so stale product…

WrestleRic wrote this: The most suitable response that I can think of to describe TNA is that other than its scattered and somewhat unprofessional formatting, it is a subpar substitution for WWE.

Sanddreamr wrote this: I like TNA .. It’s different yet it’s the same … It’s a change of pace but it it really … You have Jeff”Hulk Hogan/HHH” Holding down everyone in TNA So what is the difference if the others do it

But you have the X Division and nothing in any Other Fed can touch them ….

Genwon wrote this simple but I think very true statement:Good show solid lines. A good alternative to WWE.

Max wrote this : I haven’t seen it – but – with that being said, it offers competition to Vince, taking from him the title of being the “only game in town.” That’s good for the industry, because it will force Vince to try to produce quality programming, something he’s been able to get away from, because the alternative to his product has been infomercials, news programs, or re-runs. If TNA gets a national television contract, Vince will be forced to improve, to take fans’ preferences into consideration, and to re-evaluate some of the crap he calls storylines. So, the short answer to the question of the week is that TNA may prove to be a life-saver to wrestling, whose fans are responding to the WWE monopoly by turning to other directions in droves.

My good friend, Steve wrote this: Like any red blooded American male, I love T ‘N’ A. But, since you are referring to the wrestling show, then I have no comment, since I really know nothing about it.

The last answer comes from a colegue whome I love, Phil who wrote this little note:Your’e really asking 2 questions there. First thing is ‘how good is TNA as a wrestling product?’.

TNA has only just started to be broadcast over here in England and I have to say I am fairly impressed. As a product it looks pretty good. The company is obviously still small budget until it finds it’s feet but the ramp, ring entrance music etc is all there. It’s obvious that Jeff Jarrett is doing everything he can to make his wrestling outfit as polished and professional as he can. As far as talent goes, I think TNA has it’s fair share of talented guys and one or two who have got a really big future ahead of them, particularly AJ Styles. This guy is a great 21st century wrestler who mixes the stunt filled death defying style of modern indie wrestling with high quality technical stuff and I for one would love Vince to hire this guy. I’ve been impressed with the effort that has gone into each weekly show and the story lines and booking etc have been ok.

The second question you’re asking Ayn is ‘is NWA a good thing for wrestling?’ And I think the answer is a resounding yes. The business has been crying out for a second ‘big’ federation since the demise of WCW. The problem with WWE being the only major wrestling outfit is that wrestlers these days have no choice. Some of WWE’s employees know they are being treated unfairly, misused or being under paid but there is nothing they can do about it cos their is no other option then to work for Vince McMahon. If Jeff Jarrett makes a go of NWA/TNA then all that will change. Because of this I would love the company to really take off and challenge WWE. I think the arrival of TNA will also help improve the overall; product of WWE as they realise they have finally got competition again.

With the new TV deals that Jeff Jarrett has secured, it seems as though TNA is really making strides and I think the show as a whole is very watchable and a decent alternative to anyone fed up with WWE

I’d like to thank my good friend, Ric for writing a piece about Brock with me. He’s just so talented. Hey Ric, if you ever need another writer, think of me.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK? What do you think of Brock and his future in football?

That’s it for another Annie’s View. Until next time, be good or be like me, really good doing it.